Ninja Gaiden II

Back in 1988 Tecmo released a NES game entitled Ninja Gaiden. It was greeted to critical acclaim and huge sales, and the firm quickly created two more, before compiling them together for the SNES in Ninja Gaiden Trilogy.

A handful of ports later and Ninja Gaiden disappeared from the video game horizon, surviving only in the memory of the dedicated retro gamer.

That was until 2004, when it resurfaced in glorious 3D on Xbox (along with updated Ninja Gaiden Black in 2005 and PS3 remake Ninja Gaiden Sigma in 2006). The game was released to massive critical acclaim, winning multiple awards and receiving an average of 92 per cent on Gamerankings. It also performed well commercially, selling in excess of 1.5 million copies.

“The first Ninja Gaiden game was extremely well received on the original Xbox, and fans will not be disappointed with this new title,” said Microsoft’s head of gaming Stephen McGill. “Recent successes such as DMC4 has shown there’s a demand for this sort of action adventure title on 360.”

“In Ninja Gaiden II Ryu Hayabusa is back and on a mission to avenge his clan and prevent the destruction of the human race. Armed with an assortment of ninja weaponry, players must skilfully manoeuvre Ryu through a world fraught with peril and danger. Ninja Gaiden II is de­signed for core and casual gamers alike, with an all-new engine featuring a new auto-healing system, new difficulty levels, new enemies, intense adventures, and thrilling combat using an extensive assortment of ninja weaponry.”

Accompanying these added gameplay quirks is the shiny new Ninja Cinema mode. This mode allows gamers to record Ryu’s death-defying stunts and share them over Xbox Live. The mode also comes complete with its own stylish black and white filter.

But the game won’t sell on style alone, and so Microsoft is also planning a heavyweight marketing campaign, with print advertisements in specialist and lifestyle publications (including GamesTM, FHM and NME), website banners on various sites such as Sky Sports and MSN, and the firm is also sponsoring an entire weekend of Ninja-themed programming on Bravo TV.

Ninja Gaiden II is certain to appeal to its hardcore fan base, but has also opened itself up to a wider audience with its multiple difficult settings and accessible gameplay. Expect it to hack and slash its way off shelves with ease.